Patten & Patten Inc. TN Acquires 243 Shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD)

Patten & Patten Inc. TN grew its holdings in shares of General Dynamics Co. (NYSE:GD) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock after purchasing an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN’s holdings in General Dynamics were worth $546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GD. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Dynamics by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,945,110 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $3,307,612,000 after purchasing an additional 943,247 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in General Dynamics in the 4th quarter worth $197,238,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 13.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,557,404 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,674,998,000 after acquiring an additional 638,342 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 117.0% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 858,600 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $259,469,000 after acquiring an additional 463,000 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in General Dynamics by 43.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 942,485 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $284,818,000 after acquiring an additional 283,972 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 86.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GD. William Blair downgraded shares of General Dynamics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $300.00 target price (down previously from $345.00) on shares of General Dynamics in a report on Thursday, December 12th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of General Dynamics from $315.00 to $295.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $245.00 to $241.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Dynamics from $337.00 to $281.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $297.71.

General Dynamics Price Performance

NYSE:GD opened at $262.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $70.88 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 0.59. General Dynamics Co. has a 12 month low of $239.87 and a 12 month high of $316.90. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $257.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $278.77.

General Dynamics (NYSE:GD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The aerospace company reported $4.15 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.29 by ($0.14). General Dynamics had a net margin of 7.93% and a return on equity of 17.10%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Dynamics Co. will post 14.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Dynamics Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th will be given a $1.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 11th. This is a positive change from General Dynamics’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.42. This represents a $6.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.29%. General Dynamics’s payout ratio is 43.99%.

General Dynamics announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, December 4th that permits the company to repurchase 10,000,000 shares. This repurchase authorization permits the aerospace company to buy shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Dynamics

In other news, Director Laura J. Schumacher sold 1,796 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $255.68, for a total transaction of $459,201.28. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 11,175 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,857,224. This represents a 13.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Marguerite Amy Gilliland sold 27,562 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $272.11, for a total transaction of $7,499,895.82. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 45,192 shares in the company, valued at $12,297,195.12. The trade was a 37.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Dynamics Company Profile

General Dynamics Corporation operates as an aerospace and defense company worldwide. It operates through four segments: Aerospace, Marine Systems, Combat Systems, and Technologies. The Aerospace segment produces and sells business jets; and offers aircraft maintenance and repair, management, aircraft-on-ground support and completion, charter, staffing, and fixed-base operator services.